Winners of rights award named
JAKARTA (JP): The independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Farida Hariyani, an Acehnese woman who has been helping relatives of victims of military atrocities in Aceh, have been named winners of the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien human rights award.
Kontras, led by human rights lawyer Munir, 32, from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, and Farida, 33, will receive the award on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, members of the Center for Human Rights Studies (Yapusham) announced on Friday.
The center's executive director, rights activist and noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, said the panel of judges had picked the two from among four well-deserving nominees.
Todung, however, declined to name the other two nominees.
"The selection panel made a unanimous decision that Kontras and Farida have been instrumental in human rights protection and promotion," Todung told a media conference in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Todung said that members of the selection panel were sociologist Mely G. Tan, lawyer Harjono Tjitrosoebono, law professor Mardjono Reksodiputro, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) ulema Said Agil Siradj and Catholic priest Y.B. Mangunwijaya.
The award, named after a late prominent Indonesian human rights activist and lawyer, was first made in 1992. Previous recipients include rights activists Sandyawan Sumardi, H.J.C. Princen and Ade Rostina Sitompul, labor activist Marsinah, lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi and the farmers of Jenggawah village in Jember regency.
Todung said that Kontras and Farida have been unfailing in advocating the cause of the oppressed at risk to their own lives.
"They have been persistent in promoting human rights and fighting state-sanctioned violence," Todung said.
Farida is a graduate from the Iskandarmuda University's school of agriculture in Banda Aceh and she has helped the widows and children of the victims of military operations in Aceh since 1989.
Aceh Governor Sjamsuddin Mahmud said Thursday that the operations against separatist guerrillas in the westernmost province left 1,021 people dead, a figure higher than earlier published estimates. Latest military data revealed 760 deaths.
Accused of widespread atrocities in Aceh, the military apologized and withdrew some troops in a conciliatory gesture after the resignation in May of former President Soeharto.
Kontras was set up in April this year following reports of violence and the disappearance of activists in Jakarta. Kontras was among the first who suggested that elements within the Armed Forces (ABRI) were involved in the abductions of 24 activists.
The accusation was at first denied by the military, but testimonies from a number of activists who have reappeared and mounting public pressure on ABRI eventually led to an announcement in July that members of the elite Army's Special Force (Kopassus) were involved in the abductions.
Former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto was then discharged from the military in August and two other Kopassus senior officers were released from active duty for their alleged involvement in the abductions. (byg)